It's Pumpkin Time . . .

It's been another hectic, busy and fast week.

Funny how that happens more and more frequently now . . .

Well, it's FALL y'all! Our weather is a testament of that today. Dreary, drizzle-y, yuck-y . . .

With fall most people long for the cooler weather, sweaters, boots, etc.

Me? Other than ways to stay warm, I'm thinking about pumpkin pie :)

I love pumpkin pie. Always have.

So I've gotta share an awesome, healthy and super easy recipe I found.

Ingredients:

1 small can of pure pumpkin

½ tsp pumpkin spice (I added a little more)

1 small box sugar-free instant vanilla pumpkin (I used cheesecake - YUM)

1 8 oz carton of fat free cool whip

1 graham cracker crust

Hand mix the pumpkin, pumpkin spice, pudding mix and 1/2 of the cool whip in a large bowl.

Spoon into pie crust and top with the remaining cool whip. Chill until ready to serve.

DELICIOUS!

Note* I used fat free cool whip, which did not have much oomph as topping. 

In the future I'll use Reddi-Whip topping. 

And speaking of pumpkin . . .

A sweet friend told me how to get my Pumpkin Latte fix the cheap way!

We drink Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut Coffee and Coffee-mate Fat Free French Vanilla Creamer.

I added a packet of Splenda (Equate brand) and sprinkled Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste.

I also added the Reddi-whip, but it was totally not needed.

YUM! YUM!

(thanks Kristin ;)



We finally got to hold the twins last night!! Oh my gosh. They are sooo tiny!

I spent time holding Makinsey, while The Mister held onto Bentley.

They are definitely their own little individual selves!

I look forward to watching these two grow up :)

And I'm thinking I'm not the only one!

He's a natural isn't he? ;)

Tomorrow is a big day! We are serving thru Operation Serve. This will be our third year.

Each year we start the day with the purpose of serving others - 

yet we are the ones who feel so ridiculously blessed.

What a concept . . .

If you’d still like to volunteer, you can do so at the Kick-Off Rally

tomorrow morning @ 8:00AM at Kenwood High School.

You’ll be paired up with an project leader and awesome group of people

to serve with for the day.

I'm looking forward to spending Sunday afternoon with Priss and the granddog.

Bella's been invited over for a play date.

(Isn't she the cutest??)

Not sure how that will go. It'll be the first time they've play on Jaxon's territory . . . ;)

And with Monday not even here yet, I am so excited about next weekend!

I have a Surprise Date planned for The Mister.

He used to get nervous when I'd plan something, but I think he's figured out he can trust me ;)

He has no idea what it is this time either, but it's right up his alley.

He's gonna love it!

And we'll need a fun weekend.

He's having a little procedure next week to hopefully relieve some neck/shoulder/back pain.

So prayers that this will alleviate the pain are appreciated. Thank you in advance :)

And we're finally taking the steps to get rid of our annoying 'house' phone. Briiiiiing, briiiiing!

(not really, but I do remember those)

I'm sure you're way ahead of us on this. But 'someone' doesn't like change, so we've put it off.

But seriously - pretty much, the only calls we receive anymore are from

robots offering to lower our credit card debt (we have none) -

or someone surveying how we'll vote (uh . . . nunya).

So seeya . . .

And along with that, we're also switching internet providers.

And before that can be done, digging under our drive-way is required.

And let's just say - the Mister is picky about his yard.

So we'll see how that goes . . . 

I've also got relatives coming into town next week.

Looking forward to their visit and seeing my Mom's spirits lifted. :)

So it's off to a busy weekend and an even busier week!

Until later :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday . . .

I am absolutely LOVING this semi-summer weather! How about you??

Today I'm linking up with both Jamie AND Miss Priss to share what I'm loving about Wednesday.

Wish I could say she got her blogging skills from her Mom, but that's so not the case!

I'm LOVING that our small group meets tonight.

I love how God placed me among a group of strangers who have become extended family. :)

I'm LOVING that a doctor's appointment ended with encouragement yesterday.

Waiting on a call to schedule treatment. Getting schooled in patience ~ again.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
    and wait patiently for him to act.

Psalm 37:7(a)

I'm LOVING, LOVING, LOVING my Bella!

She is the sweetest little cuddle bug!

She loves to ride. So I'm pretty sure she's going to be an awesome travel buddy. ;)

Now if you've spoken to The Mister since Bella joined our family

I'm sure you've heard him say 'Not my dog!'

Mmmhmmmm . . . .

First off, I'm pretty sure he asked for that smooch . . .

and then we have - seriously??

And here we have - man's best friend, a remote AND an afternoon nap :) 

But 'Not my dog!' (hehe . . .)

Today I'm also LOVING the fall scents of harvest and pumpkins. All warm and cozy smelling!

But apparently I'm not the only one. :)

And then, last but definitely not least . . .

I'm LOVING that these sweet little miracles are coming home today!!

I cannot wait to get my hands on them.

Need my Nana fix!

Right Priss? ;)

Meet Makinsey (left) and her big brother Bentley.

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
    Before you were born I set you apart ..."

Jeremiah 1:5 

Yep. I'm LOVING this Wednesday!

Until later :)

Holding fast . . .

(I Want to Run Away - By: Lysa)
  You want to know one of the worst feelings in the world to me? Feeling stuck.

Stuck in a situation where I can’t see things getting better. I look at the next 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days and all I see are the same hard patterns being repeated over and over and over.

I try to give myself a little pep rally of sorts and tap into that Pollyanna girl that’s inside me somewhere. The part of me that knows the glass is half-full and chooses to see the bright side. But Pollyanna isn’t there.

Life suddenly feels like it will forever be this way.

And this dark funk eclipses me.

This happened to me when my two oldest daughters were babies. Hope was not quite 16 months old when I gave birth to Ashley. I was thankful for these two amazing gifts. I knew they were blessings. I loved them very much.

But there was this other side of motherhood no one talked to me about beforehand. It never came up at my baby shower or a doctor’s appointment or in conversations with the mommies that had gone before me.
In the midst of all the pink happiness, the dark funk came.

This desperate feeling that life would forever be an endless string of sleepless nights. Leaky diapers. Needy cries.

Forever.

One night in between feedings I went to the drug store to get some baby Tylenol. I pulled into a parking space right in front of the restaurant beside the drug store and stared inside. There were normal people in there. Laughing. Eating. Having fun conversations. They had on cute outfits and fixed hair-dos.

I looked at my reflection in the rear view mirror.

I cried.

This is my life. Forever.

Suddenly I had this crazy desire to run away.

Far away.

And then guilt slammed into my already fragile heart and I convinced myself God was going to punish me for feeling this way and take one of my babies. Teach me a lesson. Smite me for being so stinkin’ selfish.
I cried until I could hardly breathe.

I thought about this the other day when I started feeling stuck in a different situation.

A situation that felt so big and made me so sad. I felt myself on that edge of the dark funk thinking this is the way it’s going to be forever.

But then I remembered that night crying in my car. I realized those days of diapers and no sleep weren’t forever. It was a season. A season that came and went. And this would play out that way too.
It’s the rhythm of life.

The ebb and flow of struggles and victories.

I closed my eyes and whispered, "Are you here God? Hold me. Breathe courage into my weak will. Help me."

And in that moment I realized all that God ever wants from me is to want Him. Love Him. Acknowledge Him.

In the midst of struggles. In the midst of my victories. "God, I love you. I don’t love this situation. But I love you. Therefore, I have everything I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and walk through until I get to the other side of this."

One step at a time. With the full assurance God is okay with me even when I’m not okay with me.
"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him – then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you." (Deuteronomy 11:22-23)

I love how the Scriptures say, "hold fast" to the Lord. The dark funk makes me want to hold slow. Make God the last thing I try when I’m stumbling and falling. But if I close my eyes and simply whisper, "God…" at the utterance of His name He "dispossess" things trying to possess me.

Then I can see this is a season. This isn’t how it’s going to be forever. Though my circumstances may not change today, my outlook surely can. And if my mind can rise above, my heart gets unstuck.

First let me clarify one thing. I’m not sharing this devotion because I ever (that I can remember, anyway) considered running away in those days. Not even during the Terrible Two’s or the Trying Three’s. I have always, always loved being a mom. And yes . . . that’s even true during those horrific teenage years . . .

That doesn’t mean however, that I don’t completely understand what she means by the rhythm of life. The ebb and flow of struggles and victories. Of closing my eyes and whisper-ing, "Are you here God? Hold me. Breathe courage into my weak will. Help me."

I also totally understand the guilt of wondering or daydreaming about the ‘what-if’ things were different . . . then waking up to remember that God is the One truly in control. Or the guilt of wandering into that fantasy land of writing the ending I’d like to see - and almost flinching at the punishment I know I fully deserve. Satan can do a number on us, can’t he?

We’re in one of those ‘to be continued’ seasons right now. Not the first, and surely won’t be the last, But we’re in a holding pattern. And anyone who knows me, knows I tend to not be a very patient person. Particularly when it comes to the medical community. That’s heightened by the fact that, like most, I don’t like seeing the people I love in pain. And that I feel like they are in the business of diagnosing problems - and therefore providing answers. Add to that the fact that I like answers - yesterday - and . . . (well, you get the picture)

So this devotion, like them all, spoke to me.

It’s reminded me that when we wake to the blessing of a brand new day, all God wants is for us to want, love and acknowledge Him. That along with the uncertainty of every situation, struggle and triumph - He wants us to celebrate the fact that though things might not be what we choose, we have a Father who loves us beyond our wildest dreams. We serve a God that showers us with grace, mercy and strength to put one foot in front of the other and walk through to the other side one human step at a time.

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him – then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you." (Deuteronomy 11:22-23)

I’m holding.

Until later :)